Your Character's Name: Mercury Steele The reflection, cast from a shards of a storefront's broken window, looked strange to Mercury. He had seen that face many times before, but it was different this time. As familiar as the face had been, seeing it like this made him uneasy; it was alien now. Mercury was looking at himself. And he was scared for the first time in his life since Camille's execution.
Kid stood quivering, clung to the back of Mercury’s leg. He was waiting for him to take charge and get the situation under control. Mercury had already tried everything he could think of. The stoned raider holding a shotgun kept it pointed at Mercury's head. He couldn't think of anything to distract him. Even Virgil, the dismantled old coot, had managed to distract most of the raiders with a simple kaleidoscope. A kaleidoscope. And, for his life and the kids life, he couldn’t come up with a damn thing.
A raider with a baton, no longer distracted by Virgil, approached them with a violent look in his eyes. Mercury knew what was coming. He turned his head and whispered to Kid over his shoulder.
“When you get the chance, run.”
That was all he could get out before the baton-toting raider broke into a full out sprint. The staccato of his steps roared through the empty mall. Mercury turned to meet him and put his hand on Kid’s shoulder. Raging from the rundown coursing through his veins, the raider met Mercury with a powerful blow to the chest. Mercury ferociously shoved Kid down the hall sending him sailing through the air, arms flailing. The baton strike landed dead center of Mercury’s chest, immediately knocking the air out of him. He stumbled backward into the raider with the shotgun who, in turn, fell off balance and together they all went down into a writhing mess of cussing and kicking. Kid crashed onto the floor a few yards away, but managed to scramble off in the confusion. Mercury braced for another strike while on the ground, but none came. Peeking out between raised arms Mercury watched as the raider with the shotgun walked Virgil and another captor into the rotted out Boston Store down the hall.
Mercury dusted himself off and, after a moment, struggled onto his feet. He coughed into his hand and wiped away a small droplet of blood. The kid was gone. He had done what he had to in order to protect the Kid. He was gone now and Mercury wondered if this was what it felt like to achieve salvation. Was that it, his selfless act to prove to the powers that be that his past was just a misunderstanding. Would the Voice of the Delta forgive him for the sins he'd committed across the land because he saved this one kid? He always thought that being saved would accompany some kind of tangible experience. He would become unafraid of the unknown. He would forgive all those responsible for Camille's death. If he was saved, he certainly couldn't feel anything tangible besides fear for his life and an emptiness inside of himself.
Mercury left, once again, to fend for himself in the world. He wondered if Rex and Care, his parents, had ever thought about letting him escape. Escape to somewhere without their neglect and hate. Maybe his parents weren’t so bad after all. Maybe they were just like he was; trying to live with the consequences of a decision they didn't see past making.
Snapping back to reality, he oriented himself to the immediate goal of survival. Mercury cleared his mind and focused on the raider with the baton.
“What you guys doin’ in that Boston Store? W-we heard that screaming.” Mercury squeaked out.
The raider growled back, “Were playin’ with doc’s leftovers. Why? You wanna be the next patient?”
Mercury’s eyes narrowed. He could hear something big coming. It was downstairs, probably just getting into the mall. Mercury eyed the shotgun cautiously. One wrong move and it could all be over. He continued, “Doc’ who?”
“It don’t fuckin’ matter. You’re gonna be dead by then anyways,” the raider finished and laughed heartily.
Mercury began to sweat.
“Listen guy. I’m scared. If you’re trying to scare me, you’ve done it. I just want to live." he paused, looking at the strung out raider.
“Just let me go and I can set you guys up real good man. I can get you more rundown than you would ever know what to do with. I just need to find Doc’ Targett.” Mercury explained, feeling suddenly tired.
At the mention of Doc’ Targett the raider’s eyebrows crinkled in suspicion. Mercury saw the raider’s reaction and paused. The footfall was getting closer, more audible. It wouldn’t be long before the raider could hear it as well. Spinning in a circle, Mercury managed to retrieve the piece of meat he had in his pack and throw it to the feet of the raider. The hapless raider, shocked by the sudden flurry of movement, looked down at the cut of meat in confusion.
The raider obviously didn’t hear the noise . Mercury's senses were reeling from the adrenaline on top of his body's Mercury mutation. The noise was growing louder. Whatever it was had a heavy footfall. He closed his eyes, entering a trance-like state. Quadrupedal. Heavy footfall. Heavy breaths. Claws tapping the floor as it ran. Winnie!
And then he heard it--but it was already too late for the foe. Winnie stormed into view, jaws snapping and saliva dripping. And, of all the things that relieved Mercury, the kid was atop the bear, ferociously grasping two clumps of hair. Kid didn’t even look at Mercury, but solely focused on the raider. With a swipe of the paw, the once-threatening raider crumpled to the ground bleeding profusely from a gaping would to the chest and abdomen. Mercury swiveled around, grabbing his Mosin Nagant against the wall. It felt good to have it in his hands again. It felt good to be in control again. It felt good to have Kid back.
He leveled the bead of his rifle on the remaining raider a ways down the hall. The raider stood turned away, staring up into the kaleidoscope that Virgil had left him. Mercury exhaled and pulled the trigger. The raider went down immediately. Mercury swung back around to face Kid and Winnie.
Kid sat atop the panting bear smiling. It was the most genuine smile Mercury had ever seen. He had wanted to smile back, but all he could get out was, “Why the fuck did you come back for me?”
The reflection, cast from a shards of a storefront's broken window, looked strange to Mercury. He had seen that face many times before, but it was different this time. As familiar as the face had been, seeing it like this made him uneasy; it was alien now. Mercury was looking at himself. And he was scared for the first time in his life since Camille's execution.
Kid stood quivering, clung to the back of Mercury’s leg. He was waiting for him to take charge and get the situation under control. Mercury had already tried everything he could think of. The stoned raider holding a shotgun kept it pointed at Mercury's head. He couldn't think of anything to distract him. Even Virgil, the dismantled old coot, had managed to distract most of the raiders with a simple kaleidoscope. A kaleidoscope. And, for his life and the kids life, he couldn’t come up with a damn thing.
A raider with a baton, no longer distracted by Virgil, approached them with a violent look in his eyes. Mercury knew what was coming. He turned his head and whispered to Kid over his shoulder.
“When you get the chance, run.”
That was all he could get out before the baton-toting raider broke into a full out sprint. The staccato of his steps roared through the empty mall. Mercury turned to meet him and put his hand on Kid’s shoulder. Raging from the rundown coursing through his veins, the raider met Mercury with a powerful blow to the chest. Mercury ferociously shoved Kid down the hall sending him sailing through the air, arms flailing. The baton strike landed dead center of Mercury’s chest, immediately knocking the air out of him. He stumbled backward into the raider with the shotgun who, in turn, fell off balance and together they all went down into a writhing mess of cussing and kicking. Kid crashed onto the floor a few yards away, but managed to scramble off in the confusion. Mercury braced for another strike while on the ground, but none came. Peeking out between raised arms Mercury watched as the raider with the shotgun walked Virgil and another captor into the rotted out Boston Store down the hall.
Mercury dusted himself off and, after a moment, struggled onto his feet. He coughed into his hand and wiped away a small droplet of blood. The kid was gone. He had done what he had to in order to protect the Kid. He was gone now and Mercury wondered if this was what it felt like to achieve salvation. Was that it, his selfless act to prove to the powers that be that his past was just a misunderstanding. Would the Voice of the Delta forgive him for the sins he'd committed across the land because he saved this one kid? He always thought that being saved would accompany some kind of tangible experience. He would become unafraid of the unknown. He would forgive all those responsible for Camille's death. If he was saved, he certainly couldn't feel anything tangible besides fear for his life and an emptiness inside of himself.
Mercury left, once again, to fend for himself in the world. He wondered if Rex and Care, his parents, had ever thought about letting him escape. Escape to somewhere without their neglect and hate. Maybe his parents weren’t so bad after all. Maybe they were just like he was; trying to live with the consequences of a decision they didn't see past making.
Snapping back to reality, he oriented himself to the immediate goal of survival. Mercury cleared his mind and focused on the raider with the baton.
“What you guys doin’ in that Boston Store? W-we heard that screaming.” Mercury squeaked out.
The raider growled back, “Were playin’ with doc’s leftovers. Why? You wanna be the next patient?”
Mercury’s eyes narrowed. He could hear something big coming. It was downstairs, probably just getting into the mall. Mercury eyed the shotgun cautiously. One wrong move and it could all be over. He continued, “Doc’ who?”
“It don’t fuckin’ matter. You’re gonna be dead by then anyways,” the raider finished and laughed heartily.
Mercury began to sweat.
“Listen guy. I’m scared. If you’re trying to scare me, you’ve done it. I just want to live." he paused, looking at the strung out raider.
“Just let me go and I can set you guys up real good man. I can get you more rundown than you would ever know what to do with. I just need to find Doc’ Targett.” Mercury explained, feeling suddenly tired.
At the mention of Doc’ Targett the raider’s eyebrows crinkled in suspicion. Mercury saw the raider’s reaction and paused. The footfall was getting closer, more audible. It wouldn’t be long before the raider could hear it as well. Spinning in a circle, Mercury managed to retrieve the piece of meat he had in his pack and throw it to the feet of the raider. The hapless raider, shocked by the sudden flurry of movement, looked down at the cut of meat in confusion.
The raider obviously didn’t hear the noise . Mercury's senses were reeling from the adrenaline on top of his body's Mercury mutation. The noise was growing louder. Whatever it was had a heavy footfall. He closed his eyes, entering a trance-like state. Quadrupedal. Heavy footfall. Heavy breaths. Claws tapping the floor as it ran. Winnie!
And then he heard it--but it was already too late for the foe. Winnie stormed into view, jaws snapping and saliva dripping. And, of all the things that relieved Mercury, the kid was atop the bear, ferociously grasping two clumps of hair. Kid didn’t even look at Mercury, but solely focused on the raider. With a swipe of the paw, the once-threatening raider crumpled to the ground bleeding profusely from a gaping would to the chest and abdomen. Mercury swiveled around, grabbing his Mosin Nagant against the wall. It felt good to have it in his hands again. It felt good to be in control again. It felt good to have Kid back.
He leveled the bead of his rifle on the remaining raider a ways down the hall. The raider stood turned away, staring up into the kaleidoscope that Virgil had left him. Mercury exhaled and pulled the trigger. The raider went down immediately. Mercury swung back around to face Kid and Winnie.
Kid sat atop the panting bear smiling. It was the most genuine smile Mercury had ever seen. He had wanted to smile back, but all he could get out was, “Why the fuck did you come back for me?”